Pick off for conveyer systems



April 3, 1928. 1,664,393

W. L. B|XLER ET AL PICK OFF FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS Filed May 6; 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 71m AW; 21'

L. s. HEZYE/ I F April 3, 1928. 1,664,393

W. L. BIXLER ET AL PICK OFF FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS Filed May 6, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2-7 7-1-4 mvzr Patented Apr. 3, 1928.

ourT"so WILLIAM L. BI'XLER Ann L. is. iiENRY BIXLER, OF F'nnsiso, cit-madame.

PIoK'oFL son ooNvnYEas'Ys'rEMs.

Application filed May 6,

"Oii'r devi'ce relates to cable conveyer systems in which the articles'to be conveyed are mounted upon a hanger, which hanger is "provided with a hook to be hooked over the cable, such as, for instance, clothes hangers, and was designed primarily *for :use in dry cleaning establishments in which the clothes during the process of cleaning are conveyed upon travelling cables from place to place it has for its object the provision of mechanism "so constructed and arranged as to pick'oif any desired hanger fronrrthe conveyer cable'andc'onvey the same to the-place whereth'e next operation is to be performed.

Another object is to provide a device of the above character which when set will 'be automatically released'by the article it is intended to pick off and be nioved back out of contact with the cable until again set bythe operator.

hereinafter and, while we have shown and will describethe preferred form of our invention, we wish it understood that we .do not limit ourselvesto such preferred form but that various changes and v adaptations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of'our invention. 7 V

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofour device in its :position of non-use with its operative position shown in dotted lines.

Fig.2 is an enlarged side elevation of our device :partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig, 2.

Fig. 4 is a right hand elevation of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail top. view of a latch operated by a solenoid. Fig. 6 is a side view of the detail shown in Fig. '5. Fig. 7 is an end view of the detailshown in Fig. 5.

*Referring to the drawings, our device comprises a substantially rectangular stationary frame 10 secured at its upper end to a suitable support 11 depending downwardly from the ceiling, not shown. Rev-V olubly mounted on one side of frame 10, at opposite corners thereof, are grooved rollers 12, and slidably mounted at tlie's'ide of frame 10 and held positioned by rdlle'rs 12, to slide longitudinally, is "a "movable frame 13; Frame 13 is provided longi'fudi Other objects andjadvantages will appear 1921. Serial No. 711,385.

'lllOllllteCl intermediate its ends, near th'e rearendof the top of franie10,-i'san?operating lever 17 the rear end of which extends downwardly and rearwa'rdly at an angle and isjscre'w't hreade'd and has adjust ably ino'unted thereon'a counter balance 18 and then terminates in-a head 19. Loosely inounted upon the rear end of lever '17, im mediately adjacent to head 19, is a "fle'iiible cord or cable 20 which eiztends upwardly and passes over a pulley 21 secured to the ceiling or other suitable place, and then'eic tends downwardly to it's'pl'ace of use. The other end of lever 17 extends upwardly and is bifurcated, and in this bifurcated -end is pivotally I'noiinted one end of a curved link 22 the other end of which is pivotally connected to the front endof frame 13 central- 1y thereof. Extendingoutwardlyfroin the side of frame 10, near the front 'endthere of,- is a bearing '24 in which is revohibly mounted the upper end of a pintle 25'.

Pintle 25 eiit'ends' downwardly from bearing '24 and his rigidly mounted thereon a roller 26 which bears against the side. of fr'aine 13, and holds thesanie positioned,lis

hereafter efirplain'ed. Eyitending outwardljy from the side of frame '10 "is abracket upon whichis mounted as'o'le'n'oid magnet 2 provided with a solenoid 29. The free end of solenoid -29 terminates in an eye 30 in which eye is mounted one end of a locking bolt 31' whichboltpasses through an apen ture 32 in the top of frame 10 and is adapted to engage afcatc'h "33]inountedupon the 11pper end of lever 17 when the'dev'ice is in its operative position. Secured tofthje ire'arjside of frame 13. at the front end t'he'reof, to extendforwardly, is an a'rn1'34 the fre'e'end of' which is rigidlyconnected tothe pick-off arm'35 near its frontc'nd, The front end o'f ari'n 35 is bent at a right angle the right angle extension member being designated gil -and has an arciiate Opening 36 provided therein so that when positioned {for an loading from the conveyer t h e of the sm le can enter the arcane seeding, thus which is mounted a contact 44.

permitting the member to be pressed with the right angled portion, is a plunger 37 provided with a head 33, and coiled around plunger 37, between head 38 and the side of arm 35, is a coil spring 39 which acts to normally hold plunger. 37 in its operative position. The other end of plunger 37 is rigidly mounted in the free end of a contact operating arm 40. Contact arm 40 extends rearwardly and has its other end rigidly connected to a block 41 hingedly con? nected by hinge 42 to the side of the front end of frame 13. Rigidly connected to block 41, immediately above arm 40, is a curved contact arm 43 in the free end of Contact'44 is connected by wire 45 to a source of energy, not shown. Mounted upon'the side of the topofframe 13, in register with contact 44,

is a contact plate 46 which is connected by wire 47 to one side of solenoid 29. The otherside of solenoid 29 is connected by wire 48 to a source of energy, not shown. Pick-off arm 35 extends rearwardly and downwardly at an angle from itsconnection with arm 34 and terminates at a point immediately below and at one side of the front end of frame-10. Secured to the rear end of frame 10, to extend downwardly, is a bracket 49 to the rear end of which is rigidly connected one end of a holding bar 50 the other end of which extends forwardly and upwardly at an angle and terminates in a socket or recess 51 adapted to receive the free end of arm 35 when in its inoperative position. Slidably mounted uponthe side of arm 35, to extend longitudinally, is a rod 52 the upper end of which is pivotally connected to one end of a retarding member 53. Member 53 is pivotally connected bypivot 54 to the'side of arm 35 and when the device is in its operative position the free end of member 53 pr0jects slightly above the upper edge of arm 35. Connected at one end to the rear end of frame 10 and at its other end to the front end of frame 13, is an air check 60, of any suitable construction, the purpose of which is to retard the return movement of frame 13. A clothes hanger is preferably constructed of a suitable cross bar which is suspended on a hook 71. I have provided a plurality of depending supports which carry at the lower ends a plurality of pulleys 61. These pulleys in turn carry the conveyer cable 62. These pulleys are positioned so that the conveyer cable will travel a predetermined route, and

each pick off assembly is positioned adjacent to one of said pulleys.

In the operation of our device the parts will normally lie in the positions shown in of locking bolt 31 will engage catch 33'and hold said lever 17 positioned against the action of counter balance 18. As frame 13 moves forwardly and the angled member 35 of arm 35 passes adjacent to the face of pulley 61, and conveyer cable 62 the cut away portion 16 of tongue 15 permits the front end of frame 13 to drop, thus bringing the head 38 of plunger 37 into alignment with the cable and into the line of travel of the clothes hanger 70 it is desired to remove from the cable. As-clotheshanger 70 engages head 38 of plunger 37 it will move the same inwardly and with it arm 40. As

'arm 40 is moved block 41 will be swung on its hinge 42 and with it contact arm 43 will also be moved to bring contact arm 44 into contact with plate 46, thereby energizing magnet 28 and causing solenoid 29 to'be'retracted to withdraw locking bolt 31 from engagement with catch 33. Counter balance 18 will then act to move the bifurcated end of lever 17 upwardly and rearwardly and by means of link 22 will move frame 13 rearwardly. Immediately upon the commencement of the rearward movement of frame 13 tongue 15 will cause the free end of said frame to be elevated to permit arm 35 to clear the pulley and cable. The air check 60 is so arranged as to permit a quick rearward movement of frame 13 until the arm 35 has cleared said pulley and cable and the movement is then retarded to prevent damage to the device or to the article being carried. As shown in Fig. 1, stop member 53 will at this time be projecting slightly above the upper edge of arm 35 which pre vents the movement of the hanger down the inclined edge of arm 35. As frame 13 moves rearwardly the free end of arm 35 will pass into the socket 51in arm 50, and the free end of rod 52 will contact with the free end of socket 51'. Further rearward movement of frame 1.3'will cause rod 52 to rock stop member 53, thereby permitting the hanger being carried by arm 35 to slide down arm 35 and arm 50 until stopped by bracket 49. The pivot supporting stop member 53 is designated in the drawing as 54. As the hanger moves out of contact with head 38 spring 39 will move the same to its normal position, thereby breaking the contact between contacts 44 and 46.

V Having'described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A pick-oil device for conveyer systems comprising a stationary frame; a movable frame slidably mounted in said stationary low frame toslidelongitudinally; means to move said {movable frame into its operative position "means to lock said lastmeans means to release said last means; and means to return said movable "frame to its inoperative position.

' to release said locking means to permit said movable frame to return to its normal inoperative position;

3. A pick-off device for cable conveyers comprising a stationary frame mounted to extend at right angles to the direction of travel of said cable; a movable frame mount-.

ed in said stationary frame to move towards and away from said cable; a take-01f member carried by said movable frame; means to move said frame towards said cable to bring the end of said take-off member into position above said cable; means to lock said last means in its operative position; means carried by said take-off member adapted to be engaged by a carrier on the cable to release said last means; means to return said movable frame to its inoperative position; and cushioning means between said stationary and movable frames adapted to retard the return movement of said movable frame.

4. In a conveyer system having a travelling cable and carriers thereon, a pick-off device therefor comprising a stationary frame mounted to extend at right angles to said cable; a movable frame mounted in said stationary frame to slide towards and away from said cable; a take-off member carried by said movable frame adapted to be moved into position to be engaged by a carrier on said cable; manually operated means to move said movable frame to position said take-off member; means to lock said last means in its operative position; means carried by said movable frame and take-off member adapted for engagement with a carrier to release said locking means; holding means carried by said stationary frame adapted to normally form an extension of said take-off means; means mounted on said take-off member for obstructing the, passage of a carrier along the same adapted to be operated by the return of said movable frame to its inoperative position to release said carrier and permit the same to move on to sa1d holding means; and retarding means for retarding the return movement of said movable frame.

5. In a conveyor system having a travelling cable and carriers thereon, a pick-off device. therefor comprising a stationary frame mounted. in juxtaposition to said a'carrier to release said locking means to permit said movable frame to return to its normal inoperative posltlon; means to retard said return movement; means carried by said stationary frame adapted to normally form an extension of said pick-off arm; means mounted on said pick-off arm'for obstructing the passage of a carrier there- 'along adapted to be operated by the return of said movable frame to its inoperative position to release said carrier and permit the same to move on to said holding means.

6. In a conveyor system having a travelling cable and carriers thereon a pick-01f device therefor comprising a stationary frame mounted in juxtaposition to said cable; a movable frame mounted in said stationary frame to move towards and away from said cable; an arm extending forwardlyfrom said movable frame; a pick-off arm mounted at one end on the free end of said arm to extend downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, adapted when said movable frame is moved towards said cable to be positioned to be engaged by a carrier on said cable; a holding member carried by said stationary frame adapted to normally form an extension of said pick-off arm; locking means between said stationary and movable frames for locking the latter in its extended position; means carried by said pick-off arm adapted to be engaged by a carrier to release said locking means to permit said movable frame to return to'its normal inoperative position; means to retain said carrier on said pick-off arm during the return movement of said movable frame; means operated by said return movement to permit said carrier to move onto said holding means.

7. In a conveyor system having a travelling cable and carriers thereon, apick-off device therefor comprising a stationary frame mounted in juxtaposition to said I cable; a movable frame mounted in said stationary frame to move towards and away from said cable; an arm extending forwardly from said movable frame; a pick-01f arm mounted at one end on the free end of said Ill) normallyform an extension of said pick-oil? arm; locking means between said stationary and movable frames for looking the latter in its extended position; means carried by said pick-0H arm adapted to be engaged by a carrier to-release said locking means to permit said movable frame to return to its normal inoperative position; means to retain said carrier on said pick-off arm during the return movement of said movable frame; 10

means operated by said return movement to permit said carrier to move on to said holding means. i

In Witness that We claim the foregoing We have hereunto set our hands this 14th day, of 15 April, 1923. I WILLIAM L. BIXLER. L. B. HENRY BIXLER. 

